One Thousand Sundowns
by camypoo
Summary: AU. Ryder Lynn was a lost cause - no one knew that better than himself. He had no hope left in life and felt as if he was better off dead. But when Ryder meets cheerful Marley Rose, he finds his world changing around him and a beacon of light shining through the darkness... They shared one thousand sundowns, but fairy tales aren't real... and they both learn that the hard way.
1. The First Sundown

He stared ahead at the ocean and the sky, watching the clouds float across the orange tinted background and the water moving slowly in the breeze. Ryder sighed and wrapped his arms around his legs, resting his chin on his knees, where the fabric was torn where blood was soaking through them. He hadn't really minded though, he'd had worse injuries.

Ryder was worn out; his day had been rougher on him than usual and all he wanted to do was get some sleep but being home wouldn't allow that; it'd be loud and scary and he'd never end up actually getting any sleep. And Ryder really wanted some peace and quiet. He also wanted to never see or speak to anyone ever again—life would have been so much better if he was alone. People wouldn't hurt him anymore… and maybe then life would be as great as everyone says.

He buried his face in between his legs and let out a sigh, shuddering at the cold air. He pulled at his jacket sleeves and curled into his ball tighter. He brought his head out his knees again and stared ahead of him at the bright orange sky.

It was so calming, watching the sun go down. None of the world existed when Ryder stared at the sun, slowly moving down. The sun was going down quicker by the second though and Ryder knew that eventually the beauty would go away. He wondered how much time he had left before it went dark and he had to go back home.

Ryder let out another sigh, touching his face lightly to test if the cut along his cheek was still bleeding. It was, and heavier than before. He had really gotten beat up today, but other days had been worse… so, so much worse. One time there were broken bones, and bruises and swelling that he wasn't able to cover. People didn't question it; because _who cares about Ryder Lynn?_

He scooted himself a little bit more towards the edge of the cliff he was sitting on, looking below him. The sea was so far down and it kind of scared Ryder that he would easily fall to his death if he tilted forward even the slightest bit… but it was also completely comforting, because he knew he could end it any time he wanted. He could end the pain and enjoy the peacefulness of death. It was so simple.

All around him was deathly silent, but his peace was over when he heard a loud dog bark in the distance. He flinched at the sound. "Truman!" A young girl shouted over the dog's barks. She laughed before yelling at the dog again, "Stop it, Truman! Slow down!"

Ryder turned his head slightly and stared down the small hill, watching a brunette and her small bulldog jump through the trees, both with smiles.

The dog barked again and spun in a circle, chewing on the red leash. "Truman," The girl giggled, pulling at the lead. The dog growled at her before taking a seat in a pile of leaves. The girl shook her head and bent next to the white bulldog, patting its head lightly.

Ryder couldn't help but notice how content the girl looked. She looked so happy to just be there, with her dog and all alone—even though Ryder wanted to be alone, he still couldn't manage to feel happy at the silence around him. He wasn't really sure what he wanted, actually.

Looking at the girl as she sat down next to the excited dog, Ryder began to wish that he could be happy… and maybe there had to be some way in the world that he could be happy. But how?

"Truman!" The girl shouted, knocking Ryder out of his daze. The dog was now attacking the girl's face with his tongue viciously, licking her cheeks excitedly. The girl laughed and pushed the big dog off her, rubbing its ears. Ryder managed to smile slightly as she fell backwards, the dog now standing on her chest.

He wiped his eyes lightly, his hand wiping the heavily bleeding cut on his face. He winced at the pressure and stared at his now bloody hand with a sigh. He really needed to clean that up.

He looked back over at the girl and found her sitting up, the dog still trying to catch her attention… but she was focused on something else. And that was Ryder. Her eyes had flitted up to the top of the hill where he sat and she was staring intently at him, a smile drawn across her beautiful face that was directed at him. "Shit." Ryder muttered, turning away, pretending he didn't see her.

"Hey!" The girl shouted from the bottom of the hill, Ryder winced and bowed his head, refusing to look at her. "Bieber Boy!"

He pulled at his fingers anxiously, praying not to have to talk to the girl… but she ran up the hill and sat herself down right next to him, the large bulldog in her lap. She grinned at Ryder, but he looked away, too afraid to look the girl in the eye. He picked up a stick and started drawing lines in the ground. "Hey, Bieber Boy. I'm Marley." The girl laughed and scooted a little bit closer to Ryder, holding the dog tighter in her arms.

When Ryder didn't respond, she sighed and tried again. "I don't bite, y'know! The dog's the only one who does that. Just in case you didn't hear me: I'm Marley, nice to meet you, Bieber." Marley chuckled and watched the boy carefully, staring at his vacant eyes. Marley frowned and watched his sad face, noticing how good looking he was. If only he would speak to her…

"Bieber?" She whispered, reaching over and stroking his shoulder lightly. He flinched and moved further away from her, bowing his head in embarrassment. Marley frowned and pushed Truman out of her arms, letting the dog run away from her. She stared at Ryder and his hidden face, wondering why the shy boy wouldn't talk to her.

He looked sad, though, and she wanted to know why. She didn't want to be nosy, but she didn't want the poor Bieber haired boy to be upset – everyone deserved to be happy.

"My name's Ryder." He snapped, barley even glancing over at Marley. He dropped the stick next to him and began picking at some dirt on his jacket sleeve, sighing angrily.

Marley looked at him sadly. "I'm sorry, Ryder. I-I didn't mean to make you mad…" She whispered uncertainly, cradling her knees like Ryder. _Why did I say all of that, _she asked herself. _Why did you have to make him feel even worse? _

Ryder shrugged and moved his gaze from his shirt to the sky, staring right at the sun with tears in his eyes. Marley couldn't help but notice how nicely the light reflected off of his face and how sweet and sad his eyes looked. And with a little more concentration, Marley realised the deep cut on his face that was bleeding down his cheek and onto his sleeve. She was about to speak up about it, but the look on Ryder's face made her stop.

She knew he wanted her to leave, but Marley wanted to stay with the shy boy and get to know him – maybe get him to open up and maybe make a new friend. She knew she wasn't wanted, though, so she tried to strike up conversation. "Beautiful sundown, huh?"

"Mmmhmm." Ryder nodded and leaned his head on his knees, rocking back and forth as the breeze blew by, making him shiver. The sun was going down quicker than before with the company of the pretty girl, and he just wished she would go away so he could be alone for a little while longer – before he had to face his family again.

The moment the girl saw his face, he knew that he was in trouble; the girl would want to talk to him and that she would want to have conversation. The moment he made eye contact with those bright blue and cheery eyes, he knew that she would want to say something to him or even strike up conversation. Why couldn't the beautiful girl just go away already?

Marley played with her fingers as she stared between the bright sun and Ryder's sad eyes, trying to find her words – she wanted to flirt with Ryder (he was one of the cutest guys in all of Lima) but he looked so sad and broken and she wasn't sure whether it was a good idea to even talk to him. But she wanted to talk to him.

"Ryder," She whispered, wiping at the dirt on the ground with her finger and staring at the soft dirt left on her finger. "I-I-I know I only just met you literally a minute ago but-" She cut herself off as she saw Ryder's face harden, looking sick at her talking.

He was sick of her talking. He wanted peace and quiet and just wanted to be alone with his dark thoughts. He wasn't afraid to admit he wanted to die and maybe if that brown haired beauty wasn't sitting next to him, he might have been able to make up his mind. But the more she yapped on, the less time he had and he wouldn't be able to wallow in his own pain and guilt.

"Sorry." Marley said sharply, shaking her brown hair that fell over the shoulders of her bulky green jacket. She traced her finger along the side of her skinny jeans before glancing back up at Ryder, who was still staring at the sun, which had almost gone down completely. The sky was turning dark and scary, and Marley knew she'd have to get going soon… but she didn't want to leave Ryder. She wanted to stay and talk to him and get to know him. Most likely, it would never happen.

"Shit." Ryder cursed aloud, stamping his foot angrily at the colour of the sky. Why couldn't time go slower?

He began to ignore the girl next to him as he watched and waited for the sun to go down, wishing it never had to. He could stay there forever, never having to go home again…

"What's wrong, Ryder?" Marley asked timidly, too afraid to speak up.

Ryder turned on his side and faced her, staring deep into her eyes, his brown eyes flickering between sadness and anger. "I don't want you here." He snapped in a whisper, clenching his jaw tightly. The cut dripping down his face made him look scary and Marley scooted back a centimetre, frightened by Ryder – maybe he was a bad idea to be around.

He faced back to the ocean again, watching the last part of the sun fade away into the horizon. His stomach dropped as the sky went dark. He had to leave and he had to go home. He had to face people and he'd be yelled at and chastised and hurt. He didn't want any of those things.

Ryder was also completely pissed off that his alone time was interrupted by the brunette. Why did they have to make eye contact? Why did she have to be so damn nosy and interested in him?

He stood up and stared at where the sun was, running his hand through his hair, blood streaking his hair from where he'd touched the cut. He stared out at the sea as he backed away before he ran down the hill, his stomach filling with butterflies at what he was about to face.

Marley watched him as he walked away from her, obviously frightened and upset. She mentally cursed herself and buried her face in her legs, yelling loudly into her legs. "What the hell were you thinking?" She screamed, stamping her feet a couple of times and whining out of frustration. She was being so stupid for making Ryder feel uncomfortable. He obviously hated her for that… and now she had no chance at all with him.

She was curious, though. Why did he seem so distant and hurt? Why did he seem to vulnerable? Not to mention vacant. She wanted to know about him and she wanted to help him… but there was no way in hell he would ever talk to her again.

Marley stood up with a sigh and looked around for Truman, watching the dog bounce happily along to her. She bent over and touched the dog's ears lightly. "Why did I upset the cute boy, Truman?" The dog barked in reply and began running back down the hill. She sighed and put her hands in her pockets, thinking about her mistake. She was going to hate herself for the rest of her life for this.

{x}

**Leave your opinion? Anything I could work on? If I should continue or not is the real question? What do y'all think? **

**Hope this was an enjoyable first chapter!**

**-Camryn xx **


	2. The Second Sundown

Marley was agitated. The whole day, she had been on edge about what had happened the night before. She was angry at herself for upsetting Ryder, the boy who she'd only known for a couple of minutes. She was just so upset with herself, and she'd spent the whole day beating herself up about it. She just wanted to go home and maybe go back to the spot where she'd met Ryder and apologise. She just hoped he'd be there again that night, staring at the sun like he was yesterday.

"What's got your knickers in a knot?" Marley looked up from her book – which she hadn't been paying any attention to – and looked at her best friend, Kitty, who was seated next to her and painting her nails a bright shade of orange.

"Nothing." Marley replied sharply, shaking her head and looking down at her book again, biting her lip. She tapped her foot impatiently against the bench and glanced at her phone lying on the table, staring at the screen. Lunch wasn't even half way over, and she was already desperate to go home. _Just one more period, _she told herself.

"No… something's wrong. You seem like, anxious." Kitty raised an eyebrow at her friend and cocked her head to side, curious. Kitty had noticed a change in her best friend since this morning – normally she was the "good cop" of the two but today, she was so snappy that Kitty had decided she was now the "bad cop".

"Something just happened last night, that's all." Marley whispered, closing her book and resting it on the table, leaning against the brick wall behind her. She ran her finger over the pages of the book with a sigh and rested her head on her knees. Why couldn't she just see Ryder again?

"What?" Kitty asked slowly, quickly abandoning her nails. Kitty faced her best friend and put her hand over Marley's Converse shoe, staring at her friend worriedly. She normally didn't give a crap about anyone else's wellbeing but her own, but she'd found that over the years, if you want to know something, you have to act like you care.

Marley shook her head and picked at her nails, trying to remove the dirt from underneath. Marley just really needed to apologise to Ryder… she was desperate to make up for her mistakes.

"No, Mar, tell me." Kitty said, patting her friend's leg and leaning forward, ready to listen if her friend were to whisper why she was acting so… weird.

"Kitty, leave me alone." Marley said, standing up from her seat. She grabbed her things from the table and walked away from her best friend, gripping the book tightly.

_Not long now, _she told herself. _Not long at all, I guess._

{x}

Ryder climbed the hill, gripping onto the nearby rock to stop himself from slipping. He'd hurt his leg when some of the boys at school pushed him over a bench and into the lockers; his leg smashed against the metal bench and then he fell over, twisting his ankle in the process and ended up hitting his head against the locker. His head still ached, and he couldn't really move.

He fell onto his butt as soon as he reached the cliff and sighed, running his hand through his greasy hair. Ryder was so tired, and it was another one of those days where he wanted to give up. Die. It would be so, so easy. He wouldn't have to worry about anyone or anything ever again. And it's not like anyone would actually care if he was gone – they all wanted him dead anyway.

Ryder took a deep, shaky breath and scooted closer to the edge, hanging his legs off and staring down at the light blue sea. He could still see it – the sun had only just started going down, making the sky a dusty blue colour.

He could jump off the cliff, he could possibly hit his head on one of the rocks and knock himself out, and then he could drown happily, with no last thought as to who would miss him.

He felt a tear dripping down his cheek and he quickly wiped it away on his stripy jacket, putting his hands in his lap again, and staring back down at the water. _Maybe now was the right time._

Bringing his hand up to his face, he touched the dried up cut on his cheek and winced slightly as a stinging sensation went through him. Maybe it was bruised; it wouldn't be surprisingly after all of the beating he'd gone through in the past 24 hours.

Yesterday, after he'd left the annoying brunette at the cliff, was the worst beating he'd gotten in a while. They were on the street, about five minutes from his safe place, ready with their weapons, ready to hit him and beat him. He swore that girl was a bad luck charm for him. He just hated her so much.

He wiped his eyes and stared at the sun, squinting at the sight of it – it wasn't this bright yesterday. Ryder was probably here earlier than yesterday. He wanted to escape home as quickly as possible, so he dumped his bag on the step and ran for his life down the street to where he was now. He sighed and closed his eyes, listening to the whistling of the wind and the comfortingly silence.

But just like yesterday, the peaceful silence around him was broken. He let out a loud groan as leaves began to rustle in the distant. Ryder had a strange feeling that it was the annoying and nosy brunette again… and he was absolutely dreading her being here again. At least last time, there wasn't much time left. This time, there was the whole afternoon.

Marley saw the back of Ryder's head as she exited from behind the nearby trees. She dropped her dog's leash and let the dog run freely around the small grassland, like she had yesterday. She trusted Truman not to go anywhere.

She looked down at the little cupcake in her hands, sighing at the crappy job she had done at putting icing on it. After she'd left Kitty at lunch, she walked straight to the kitchens and began to make a small cake for Ryder, to apologise. She'd burnt all of the cakes on the first try, so she settled to just make one… and it turned out alright. She just hoped that Ryder would accept her apology.

Marley heard Ryder groan and saw him shake his head – she knew that was aimed at her… but instead of walking away, she walked up the hill, watching the messy cake to make sure she didn't drop it. She'd worked so hard on the cake, and she wasn't going to drop her apology gift.

"Ryder," She whispered, standing next to Ryder at the top of the cliff, looking out at the sun with a smile.

"What do you want?" Ryder snapped, irritably digging his nails into his skin. He was so, so pissed off at the fact that the brunette was here, interrupting him again.

"I-I-I wanted to apologise, Ryder… for interrupting you and annoying you and obviously offending you yesterday. It's been annoying me all day, just the guilt of it, y'know?" She whispered, looking down at Ryder. He wouldn't look up at her; he kept his head down. "So… I made you this, to say I'm so sorry." Marley fell to her knees next to Ryder and held the small, messy cake out to him.

Ryder didn't even glance in her direction before refusing to take the cake. "No," he snapped, biting his lip to stop himself from screaming at her.

"Ryder, please." She whispered, shoving the cake closer to him and under his nose. Ryder stared at it – at the burnt edges, at the messy purple icing and her attempt to write 'sorry' on the top. He flicked his head up and stared right at Marley's eyes for the first time, shocked at the beautiful and bright shade of blue they were.

He'd never really looked at her eyes much yesterday – she was annoying him too much. But with today's apology, he'd finally built up the courage to look at her… and the sight he saw was gorgeous.

But as pretty as the girl was, he hated her, because all he really wanted to do was drown in his own pain and suffering.

He took the cake from her soft hands and looked away from her bright eyes, back down at the ocean, which was a turning a light orange now. He stared at the messy cake and let out a sad chuckle. Like he could have done any better, though.

Marley sat down next to Ryder, remembering to keep her distance. She watched him as he sadly stared down at the cake, his floppy hair falling in front his eyes. Marley couldn't forget the look of desperation in his eyes when he looked her way – his eyes were begging for help and they looked so sad… and the bruise on his face over the cut that had been bleeding yesterday had been a big sign that he needed help.

Ryder looked up from the cake and stared at the sun, watching the light orange mix in with the yellow and blue from before. There were bits of pink seeping through the clouds. That was Ryder's favourite part of the sunset. It just looked so… beautiful and so peaceful – something his life was far from. His life was chaotic.

Ryder had almost forgotten that Marley was there – she was quiet and not as nosy as she was yesterday, which was a good change. He still would have preferred to be completely alone, but at least she wasn't interrupting his thoughts.

"Ryder," Marley whispered, avoiding looking at him and continuing to stare ahead like she was before. She didn't want to interrupt Ryder's peace again – that was the whole reason Ryder was angry with her in the first place – but she really, really needed to just… talk to him.

She wanted to say something, something comforting and something that would make him open up to her and tell her why he looked so broken, but she suddenly lost all confidence, remembering how he had acted around her yesterday when she tried to make conversation with him.

"I'm sorry, again." She whispered. Ryder nodded in reply, and that was the last word either of them spoke that night. They both just sat with each other, watching the sun go down like it had yesterday.

Ryder liked sitting there like that a lot better than he had yesterday; he was no longer annoyed by Marley, and she was no longer pestering him to talk. She just sat there, and Ryder hated to say he enjoyed the company of the girl. He could think about everything bad thing that was going on in his life. The only bad part was he couldn't act on it. He was really ready to die and he was prepared to kill himself until Marley came along… and then it was like she had stopped him. Ryder wasn't too sure whether to be grateful, or upset…

The sun had disappeared within an hour and Ryder simply stood up from his spot on the cliff, his leg still aching from the earlier. He stared out at the ocean and back down at the cake before walking away from the cliff, trying not to look at Marley on the ground, and trying not to stare at those beautiful blue eyes again.

He took a couple of backwards steps and then began to climb down the rocks, the cake still tightly in his grip. He wasn't going to let go of the cake – it was one of the best things that had ever happened to him… and he was never going to let it go.

Marley watched him walk away from her, a smile on her face as she saw the cake still in his hand. She watched Ryder limp down the rocks and away from her, standing up once she realised he was no longer there. She brushed off her hands and walked away proudly.

Ryder was warming to her, and she couldn't have felt better about it. The mysterious boy was finally beginning to trust her. And after a matter of time, maybe she could help the poor boy in rebuilding his obviously messed up life. Just in a matter of time.

{x}

**Thanks for the reviews and favourites and follows! They totally made like, my whole week! All of y'all are so sweet and thank you again for taking a couple of minutes of your time to review! **

**airzy7 ~ Wow, thank you so, so much for your review! You actually gave me some ideas from your review, so thank you again! And the reason as to why Ryder is getting so badly hurt won't be revealed just yet, haha, but eventually... it might take a couple of tens of chapters, but soon! Thank you for taking interest in this, and I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! xx**

**StarkidGleek12 ~ Aw, thank you! I felt bad for Ryder, too, haha. Am I allowed to say that? I don't know... but Ryder will warm up more to Marley eventually, I promise that. And I don't know - it might just be a Ryley endgame story! Hope you liked the next installment here! I also absolutely adore your fanfictions! x**

**Jennoist-OTP ~ Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you're intrigued, and I honestly hope you liked this chapter! Also, I love your Tumblr blog, by the way! Thank you for leaving you opinion on the first chapter! **

**Thanks again, guys! Hope you liked this chapter and I love youu for reviewing and doing all of that jazz.**

**If any of y'all have Tumblr, you can follow me if you want: butteryflyprincess - I follow back, by the way! **

**-Camryn xx**


	3. The Third Sundown

With his head down, he walked away from the school (or hell, as he often called it) and breathed a sigh of relief. Another day was over and he could finally go someplace where people would leave him alone! Not home, though. Anywhere but home.

For some completely strange reason, Ryder was kind of happy to go to the cliff again today to see Marley again. Yesterday, she had seemed to sweet and Ryder had enjoyed her company, if not wanted more of it. Yeah, he wanted to sit there with her for the rest of the night with someone who actually cared about him and respected him enough not to insult him or hit him.

He had kept the cake from yesterday – he carried it with him all throughout the next day at school and stored it in his locker where it was now. He was just hoping that the football players wouldn't open his locker and steal.

Ryder found it so strange that this cake meant so much to him, but it was the only nice thing anyone had ever done for him. And he found it strange how he was slowly beginning to trust Marley. He didn't know what it felt like to be… liked.

"Oi! Ryder!" As he walked, he heard his name being called behind him. He spun around slowly, grabbing onto his bag tighter and was faced with four large jocks in their varsity jackets, striding towards him. He immediately cursed himself for responding to his own name.

"Hey, fag!" The tall blonde football player shouted as they got closer to Ryder. He pushed Ryder to the side and he stumbled over, running into the larger, bulkier jock.

"Loser!" They all shouted at different times. Ryder shook his head and sighed, turning around to go away from them. He couldn't stand this anymore.

But at his spun around, the two jocks behind him sent the two cups in their hands flying towards his face, coating him in deep red ice. Ryder gasped and wiped his eyes, cursing under this breath. The boys around him laugher before he felt two more cups being poured on his head, coating his clothes and getting into his eyes.

"Gaybo!" He heard another one of them shout before they shoved him to the side onto the small grass hill next to the path. Ryder brought his sore legs up and curled up into a ball on the grass, coated in slushie and now grass, letting a tear escape his eye. He was so sick of everything.

_This whole world is mad, _he thought to himself. _I just want to feel the way that everyone else feels, happy with their lives. I don't know to be looked through… I just want to be noticed and cared for, for fucks sake. _

He quickly sat up, the food colouring from the slushie stinging the cuts on his back. He winced and closed his eyes tightly, hoping to get rid of the pain. It didn't go away, though. His whole body ached and shivered.

Instead of sitting and cursing his life, he stood up and ran towards his safe place. The run was long and tiring, and the more he ran, the more the cuts on his back and stomach ached. It stung so badly – he wanted to curl up into a ball and die from the pain. Times like these, he felt like he had to die. And times like these were all of the time.

As Ryder reached the nearby rocks leading up to the cliff, he felt tears rolling down his red stained face. He leaned against the sharp rocks and let out a loud sob, falling to his knees and resting his head against the sharp corner of the rock, cutting his head on it. He broke down into more sobs, curling up against the rocks and shaking.

He was just so sick of life – when would things get better for him? _Probably never, _he thought bitterly. He reached up to wipe his face with his jumper sleeve and quickly pulled it back as his arm began to sting.

It hurt so badly, Ryder didn't think he could go on… he always thought that, everyday of his life. But some strange feeling willed him to live on – and today, it was the thought of seeing Marley. He wasn't even sure why he wanted to see her, he just kind of did.

Slowly and carefully, Ryder pulled himself to his feet and lifted his leg to climb the rock. He let out a whine of pain and crawled along the ground of the hill, finally being able to see the sun. He sighed and crawled forward just a little bit more, collapsing as soon as he could see the sun glaring down on him.

The sky was slightly orange, with a tinge of pink and yellow seeping through the clouds. He closed his eyes and buried his head in the grass, sighing deeply. His whole body shook with fear and pain and he couldn't seem to move anymore.

After five long, painful minutes, he pulled himself into the sitting position, crossing his legs and sighing heavily, wiping his red hands against his stained jeans. He didn't even bother to think about how stained his shirt was and how much trouble he was going to get into. He just cried.

"Ryder?" Ryder didn't even turn his head when he heard Marley's voice. He just let out a strangled sob and ducked his head. He couldn't even look at Marley – the slushie on his face was embarrassing and she was bound to ask questions. "Hey, Ryder."

Marley fell down next to Ryder and watched him carefully, tugging on the sleeves of her jacket nervously. She had been wondering all day if Ryder wanted her here – she was worried he wouldn't and that she'd have to leave. She loved sitting here with him, even if they didn't say a word to each other.

But as she stared at him, she noticed his head hanging and his greasy hair in front of his brown eyes and how his whole body was coated in melted, red ice. She frowned and shuffled closer to him, her knee touching his. Ryder didn't move away from her, he just sat there, staring at the ground. "Ryder?" Marley whispered, running her finger up Ryder's cold and wet arm. The clothes he was wearing were so thin and the ice had obviously gone through it… and being almost winter, he must have been freezing. Ryder flinched at her touch but didn't move, only shaking when he sobbed.

"What happened?" Marley whispered, stretching her hand to grab Ryder's. He pulled his hand away from her, though, looking away from her as well. "Ryder, seriously, what happened?" Marley's tone grew louder and stronger.

"Nothing." He snapped, staring down at the ground away. He pulled at the thin sleeves of his jumper to try and make himself warmer. He gazed up at the sun and tried to focus on how beautiful it was, but he felt so shitty.

"No, something's wrong." Marley whispered, digging her nails into her hands to stop herself from giving Ryder comfort by patting his back or leg or something.

"Everything's always wrong." He muttered, turning slightly to face Marley. Marley looked his face up and down worriedly and stared at the red food colouring covering his entire face and his sad eyes, so distant.

"What happened?" Marley reached forward and cupped one side of Ryder's face in her hand, wiping at his wet cheek lightly. He didn't push her hand away, but he just sat there, staring straight at her. "Ryder," Marley sighed, shaking her head and licking her thumb, wiping her fingers across Ryder's face again.

Ryder sighed and averted his gaze from Marley's eyes, staring down at her legs, trying to stop himself from swatting her hand away. He was so concerned about het touching him, yet her touch was so warm on his cold skin and he weirdly liked it. Marley was breaking down his walls and Ryder didn't know if he liked it or not.

"Nothing, Marley." Marley was shocked – that was the first time he had used her name. It kind of felt like being told you were someone's best friend, except she was on a lower level. Ryder didn't think she was a friend but she was there… and maybe Ryder would trust her enough one day to call her his best friend.

Marley sighed and continued wiping at his face lightly, trying to get rid of the ice on his face. She felt so bad for him and she desperately wanted to know what had happened. Why were people being so horrible to him?

Ryder didn't move as Marley tried to rub off the ice from his skin, he just sat in front of her, watching her blue eyes scan over his face and a sad expression flicker across her face from her worried one. Ryder didn't know it, but she cared. To think someone cared was a strange thought for Ryder.

"Are you ever going to tell me what happened, Ryder?" Marley whispered, taking her hand away and facing the sun, watching it slowly go down. Ryder faced the sun, too, pulling at his damp sleeves and wiping his face which was half dry.

"One day, Marley. One day." He whispered. And maybe it was true; maybe one day he would grow so close to Marley that he could tell her everything… but that day would most likely never come. Marley would get bored of him and eventually stop caring. That's how he knew it was going to happen.

Marley nodded at Ryder and watched him as he gazed at the sun. He'd stopped crying, but his eyes were still watery and bloodshot.

She wanted to know who made him this sad – she needed to know who was hurting him because she hated to see him in so much pain. Marley needed to know why Ryder was hurting so badly.

Marley reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, staring at Ryder from the corner of her eye to make sure he wasn't watching her – luckily, he was too into his own thoughts to notice her typing out a message.

_To Kitty: Meet me at my house tomorrow morning – we're skipping homeroom._

She took another glance at Ryder's bruised and battered face before clicking send. Things were messed up in Ryder's life, and she would go to any lengths to make him feel better again. That was Marley Rose's nature after all.

{x}

**Thank you all again for the reviews and everything again! I feel so, so happy when I wake up in the morning or come home from school and see them there! **

**So… this chapter might not be my best, I'm not sure; firstly, I was distracted by X Factor (in which my favourite act went home) and then Glee was on and there was a Ryley kiss and you know, I cried… but it was so beautiful… #camryntalksaboutheruselesslife**

**airzy7 ~ I'm glad you liked the last chapter, and hopefully you liked this one, too! I'm also glad you liked that she made the cake! Also your review actually gave me more ideas (with the Karley friendship part and all), so thank you! There will most definitely not be one thousand chapters; that'd be horrible to write and read. I'm going to have like 30-something chapters that go over the time span of 30-something days so I'm staying as far away from one thousand chapters as I can haha. I just called it 'One Thousand Sundowns' because I got obsessed with the song 1,000 Sundowns by Emma Louise (because of the Offspring finale) and I based this fanfiction off of that song so… And I saw you favourited it! Thank you so much for that – it totally made me feel so awesome! Thanks again for reviewing as well! Xx Sorry this is so long, too. **

**Jennoist-OTP ~ I'm so happy you found it cute, haha. Marley will make Ryder feel better, over time, of course. I'm still not sure how yet haha, but somehow... aw, thank you, too! I really hope you liked this chapter! And… did you see that new video that Melissa posted this morning? I'm not sure what time it would have been there but… wasn't it adorable? Ah, Blake is the most adorable little shit ever. Sorry, haha. Xx **

**Thanks for reading! And please leave your thoughts on this chapter, or anything I could work on! **

**-Camryn x**


	4. The Fourth Sundown

The next morning, Marley turned up at Kitty's house at exactly 8am. Her house was a couple of streets away (3 to be exact) and it was so obvious that Kitty lived in the nicer suburbs.

Her house was three stories high with purple painted balconies and the prettiest trees and flowers around the front of the yard. In Marley's front yard, everything was dead. The inside of the house was so much nicer; everything was ceramic and extremely fragile, but it looked like a home from a magazine. It was… amazing.

Marley stood outside of Kitty's place, her hand on the small iron gate that stretched across the pavement out the front between the brick letter box and the bushes covered in roses. She shook the gate lightly, but it was locked. Her family always kept the gate locked even though someone could always jump over it… but Marley wasn't up for that today. She just wanted to follow Ryder to school, see what the people there were doing to him. Yesterday's encounter with him made her worry.

Marley heard a loud dog bark and was knocked out of her daze as a large white and fluffy husky came running down the path and began jumping against the gate. He barked his hello and his tongue fell out of his mouth, panting heavily. "Hi, Moon Moon!" Marley whispered excitedly, reaching forward and rubbing the fluffy dog's ears.

This was Kitty's dog, Moon Moon. Marley wasn't sure where the name came from – Kitty had told her that her brother had named the dog but she wasn't sure.

Moon Moon barked happily and Marley smiled, continuing to rub his soft little ears. "Marley!" Kitty screamed, running down the steps out the front of her house and darting towards the gate. Her skirt flew up in the process but she brushed it down frantically and opened the gate, not even giving Moon Moon the normal kiss on the head that she did every morning.

"Where are we going? Why are we skipping homeroom?" Kitty said, leaning against the gate. Marley stood still, her eyes wide with confusion. It was only a couple of seconds ago that she was patting Moon Moon and now Kitty was ready to go. Things just ran a little bit too fast to process.

"We-we-we-" Marley stuttered, waving her hands around in the air. She wanted to tell Kitty the whole story, but she also didn't want to. She wanted Ryder and her's place to be their place and their place only. She didn't want to share the things she felt with Kitty. "We just have to do something. For a friend."

"Oh, well, this sounds fun." Kitty immediately went back to her drowsy state and crossed her arms. She was no longer excited to go anywhere.

"Kitty, just stay quiet and let me lead the way okay?" Marley held her hands out, calming Kitty down like she was a dog.

"Why'd you invite me along then?" Kitty asked. "If you wanted me to come to stay quiet, why would you want me to come?" She raised an eyebrow at Marley and leaned against the letterbox.

"I need your help with directions – do you know where the nearest public school is?" Marley whispered, looking around her cautiously. She didn't want to sound like a stalker to any crossing pedestrians.

"Ours." Kitty replied matter-of-factly, shrugging her shoulders.

Marley groaned quietly and shook her head. "No, one that is not ours. I'm trying to find my friend, I need to see if he's okay, alright, Kitty? I'd appreciate if you didn't get your nose in my business as well so don't even ask!" Her voice grew in volume before she took a deep breath and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Please, Kitty."

"Jeez, Village Bike-" Kitty rolled her eyes.

"Don't you dare call me that, Kitty." Marley snapped, pointing her finger right in Kitty's face.

"Fine, whatever, the nearest public school besides ours is that cheap shitty one on the corner of Warrego – the one with the red and blue logo." Kitty waved her hand and unlocked the gate again. She walked back through and sent Marley a glare. "I'll see you at school, don't bother texting me. I don't like you anymore."

Marley watched Kitty walk back into her house and slam the door angrily. She heard a loud angered scream from inside before something smashed. Marley blinked a couple of times before beginning to walk back down the road she came from. As far as she was concerned, there were more important things on her mind.

{x}

She had gotten lost at first, but after turning about fifty more corners and walking across a wet oval. Marley finally found her way to that shitty public school Kitty had kind of directed her to.

She snuck behind a tree and leaned against there, gazing into a caged tennis court where about 12 footballers were throwing a big football at each other. Marley gripped onto her bag tighter and scanned her eyes over them. Ryder wasn't there.

She sighed and stared around to the basketball court parrell to the tennis court. She saw more of the jocks hitting each other in the head with basketballs. She sighed at their stupidness. She was so lucky she wasn't a guy.

But not all guys were like that – Ryder wasn't. He was far from stupid. He was smart. Marley knew that and admired him for it.

Her eyes landed on a small figure curled up next to closed gates of the school, covered in rubbish from the tipped over bin. Marley gasped as she realised who that was. _Ryder. _

She wanted to run over to him, to comfort him and yell at whoever did that to him but if she was caught on school grounds, she'd probably get kicked off. And she was certain that Ryder didn't want her to know about the obvious bullying that was going on.

The sight of him sad made her heartbreak. That poor little kicked puppy look in his eyes – and the tears that rolled down his cheeks made her want to cry as well.

The bell rang and all of the students began to make their way to an entrance to get into the school, including Ryder. He got up from the ground and brushed the banana peels and sandwich crusts off of him. He looked like he was about to breakdown but he held it all in… and Marley was sure that it couldn't be good for him.

Marley watched as Ryder ran into the school, not before getting shoved into a locker, the lock digging into his back. Marley winced, almost as if she could feel his pain. This horrible feeling welled up in her stomach at the thought of him getting hurt. She really needed to help him.

This afternoon, she promised herself. This afternoon she would make everything alright again.

{x}

It had been a struggle to get up the hill again that afternoon – the boys at school had been really rough on him today and coated him in slushie _twice _as well as hitting his already bruised and battered body again. This always happened… and it hurt more and more everyday.

But despite being coated in blue and looking like an Avatar, he was there and so desperate to see Marley. The more he saw her, the more he began to like her. It had only been four days (barely even that) but Ryder thought he had a connection to the girl… and he liked having someone that understood him. Not exactly, though – he didn't think that she was being beaten every day. But she was the only person to be really nice to him in his whole life.

He rubbed his stinging eye as he felt himself begin to tear up. Marley meant a lot to him and he knew why, but inside it felt so strange. To like someone who liked you in return was a strange feeling to him. He treasured her so much…

"Ryder," He heard Marley's voice behind him and he spun around slightly, watching her as she climbed up the dry and grassy hill and fell next to Ryder. "You're blue."

"I know." Ryder wanted to tell her what happened; that the boys had school slushied him twice that day. And that everyone hated him… and to be honest, he wanted to blurt his whole life story to her because he knew that she _cared. _Cared enough to listen to him talk and to want to comfort him.

"Who did this? Did the people at school do this to you?" Marley muttered, digging through her purse for one of those KFC wipes that smelt like off lemons. She pulled out seven and piled them between her and Ryder's thighs. She knew what was going on already – she saw him this morning and ever since then, she had this horrible, fearful feeling in her stomach. It scared her that Ryder was going through this.

Ryder shrugged. She could tell he was dying to get the weight off his shoulders. Marley let out a sigh and scooted closer to him, pressing her legs against his. She blushed slightly at the feeling of her skin rubbing against his pant leg.

She ripped open the small little package and pulled the wipe out. She began to wipe up Ryder's cheek, the blue dye coming off almost immediately. Marley continued to wipe up the slushie, staring at Ryder's perfect jawline as she did.

Ryder noticed her looking and tried not to let himself look into her gorgeous blue eyes. He wanted to stare at them because they were so beautiful – and Marley was beautiful as well, inside and out.

"Sorry if I'm hurting you." Marley apologised, wiping up his neck, running her fingers over his pulse. She could feel it going quickly, like his heart was racing.

"I-It's fine." Ryder whispered, looking down and shaking Marley off of him. Marley took her hand away and scrunched up the lemon-y wipe. She threw it on the ground and watched Ryder carefully.

She couldn't hold in the worried feeling in her stomach any longer. The pained looked across Ryder's face was too much for her and she felt like she was going to cry. It scared her that he was all alone with no one. He needed someone… and Marley was determined to be the one he needed.

"I know, Ryder." She blurted out, squeezing her purse in her fist. Ryder's eyes grew wide and he looked over at her, panic flitting over his features.

"K-know what?" Ryder stuttered. There were so many things she could know about – each worse than the rest. His heart began to pound out of fear.

"I know about what's going on at school, Ryder. I know that you're being bullied… it's kind of obvious." Marley whispered, her hands shaking. "I saw it myself. They tipped the rubbish on you, I think. And obviously they threw something at you today and yesterday… and it pains me to see you're in pain. I barely know you, Ryder, and you mean stuff to me… I can't stand seeing you in pain." She shook her head at him and reached forward to grab his hand, tears gathering in her eyes.

Ryder pulled his hand from her grip and stared at her, a thin layer of tears gathering over his eyes. He was in _pain. _"I can't believe you." Ryder whispered, shakily standing up. The sun hadn't even gone down yet and he was leaving. _You've fucked up, haven't you, Marley?_

"No, wait, Ryder, sit back down." Marley whispered, looking up at Ryder as he stood and towered over her. "I'm sorry, I was worried about you. I care about you, you know that."

"You had no right to get your nose into my business." Ryder snapped, half of his face still blue and the other half wiped up and clean.

Marley had a flashback from this morning (her conversation with Kitty) and realised that she would probably be losing Ryder forever because of this. Why couldn't she have just stayed quiet? Why couldn't she just have kept her mouth shut?

"Ryder, I was just trying to help you?" _Help you. _The word struck something in Ryder. Help was something he wanted. He wanted help – he needed it to get out of this mess… but at the same time he didn't want to because he was afraid that in the process of getting help he'd die. And as bad as life was, he was kind of afraid of dying. Afraid of not existing anymore. Afraid of-

Realisation hit him quick and hard in the face; _Afraid of losing someone I care about. _

"I don't want your help." His voice was choked up with tears and he sounded so pained. Marley had no idea what to do. She thought this would be a gateway to happiness for Ryder, but instead it only led their relationship into the depths of hell. "And I don't need it; I'm getting through this shit just fine."

Without another word, Ryder stepped backwards and began to climb down the hill. He disappeared in a matter of seconds and as soon as he disappeared, Marley fell backwards and lied down, watching the sky turn pink from her comfy position on her back.

She fucked it up. She fucked it all up because she thought she was helping. But really, she wasn't helping at all. She was just fucking things up. Why did she have to be such an absolute idiot? Things could have been alright if she'd just stopped talking. Ryder and her would probably sit there the whole night and talk to each other about things they hadn't before… but instead, Marley ruined her chances of ever getting to know the bieber-haired boy.

Marley let out a big shaky breath and covered her face with her hands. She needed to fix this. She needed to do this, or she'd lose Ryder forever and she couldn't handle that at all.

{x}

**Wow, it has been a really long time since I have updated. I'm sorry about that, life's been busy... and I've been procrastinating about writing... that's a stupid thing to say but it's true. Anywho, thank you for the reviews and the favourites/follows, they totally mean the world to me! :) I wish there was something more I could do to thank y'all!**

**Jennoist-OTP ~ Oh, yay, you got feels! I wish I could get feels because of my own story haha. Your fics giving me this crazy amount of feels, though. But aw, I'm glad you liked the part with the cake! Yess, Blake is totally adorable (it's been a while, I forgot what happened in the video but I remember it was cute). Thank you again xx Hope you liked this chapter! **

**airzy7 ~ Thank you so much :) Eh, I think this chapter kind of went in the direction of Ryder not talking to Marley any more whoops. I think we might be reverting to stage one of Ryder opening up again :) Thank you for reviewing and I hope you liked this chapter, too! **

**GabGaspard ~ Heyy! Thanks for reviewing and I'm glad you really like it! Totally made my day reading your review! Sorry for the wait, but it's here! Yay! New chapter! Hope you like! xx**

**I love you all haha! **

**-Camryn xx**


	5. The Fifth Sundown

**TW: I felt I should put a warning for abuse and mentions of suicide. I should have put these on the rests of the chapters, too, I'm very sorry. **

{x}

Marley had stayed home the next day from school. It was a Friday and there really was no point in going to school – her best friend was bound to avoid her and because of her argument with Ryder the night before, she felt sick in the stomach. She always had that sick feeling when things went wrong.

She had stayed in bed the whole entire day, only getting up get a glass of water before falling back into her double bed. It was 1pm and she was still lying in bed, her toy hippo (which she had since she was born) cradled close to her chest.

No texts from anyone had come through. The only person that would really text her was Kitty, but nothing came through from her. Not even a _Why aren't you at school? _Kitty had lost interest in her best friend. Ryder would have obviously lost interest in her because she was a nosy little bitch who thought she was doing well but was actually doing the wrong thing.

Life just really sucked at the moment.

Marley pulled the covers of her bed up to her chin and rolled onto her side, looking down the hallway. The house was empty and she was kind of grateful for the thinking time. She could think about how much everyone hated her, including herself. She could think about how annoying she was and the fact that she ruined every chance of getting to know Ryder. _If I hadn't of stuffed up yesterday, _Marley thought. _Then maybe Ryder and I would have gotten to known each other better and then I'd be at school today, hoping and praying I'd get to see Ryder this afternoon. _

Marley let out a loud sigh and pulled her legs closer to her chest, digging her nails into her legs. She was such an idiot, wasn't she?

Ryder was a good guy getting hurt for no reason at all. He didn't deserve it – any of it. But it was happening. And all she wanted to do was help but as soon as she tried, everything turned to shit. Ryder didn't want to her help, but she wished he had of taken it.

Marley thought about what was going at his school at that minute – were they hurting him? She wished on everything that they weren't because the fact he was getting hurt just stung all over.

Marley was sick of thinking about her mistakes; she just wanted to forget everything that had happened in the past day so things could just go back to normal. She wished and prayed, but it didn't come true. She began to cry.

{x}

He didn't go to the sunset place after school that day. If Marley was there, he wouldn't know what to say. And he really didn't feel like any thinking time at the moment either, he was just so god damn depressed about everything in his life. The bullying, his family, his first friend (could he even call her a friend, really?).

Marley was being nosy and he hated her for it, but there was this part of him that knew she cared for him – that was the whole reason why she had gone to the trouble to give a shit about him. But he couldn't trust her at all and he still hated her for her nosiness.

He hated her _so much_.

Instead of going to his sacred place at the cliff that afternoon, he walked home to his house about fifteen minutes away from school. He never went home in the afternoon straight after school (he realised that his Dad was drunk at those times as opposed to late at night, after the sun had gone down. He had passed out by then, Ryder had found).

Ryder hated even thinking about his whole family, his Dad the most. He hated to say it but it was weak – if his own Dad could hit him, he had to be weak, right? And the fact that his Mom just sat and watched made him feel so damn worthless.

Half of the reason he was so sad and depressed and wanted to die was because of his family. More than half of the abuse he had to go through was from his own god damn family! His own _family _hated him! It just made him feel so degraded and stupid.

His father hated him, the whole entire school hated him and possibly even Marley hated him. She was being nosy and he got angry at her for it.

He kind of wanted to apologise to her for being so snappy but he couldn't bring himself to. He just got this horrible feeling in his whole entire body when he thought about apologising. He thought it was anger but it also felt like… nerves. He didn't really understand why he was so nervous about saying sorry for yelling. He guessed it was kind of her who had to say sorry, though.

He stood out the front of his house now, gazing up to window where his room was. On the outside it looked like a perfect Victorian styled home without a flaw but on the inside it was _pure hell. _Nowadays the outside of his home even scared him.

The inside brought the most fear to him, though. It was dark and eerily silent – most of the time his Mom and his Dad just sat in silence on the couch. No TV, no radio, no talking, and that's when it got really scary.

Slowly and carefully, Ryder trekked up the hill leading up to the garage and walked towards the stairs on the right of the driveway. He hadn't been slushied today (maybe his praying to whatever God was up there was working) but he'd also been beaten so much harder than he had in the previous days. He thought he might have even lost a tooth during lunch today but he wasn't sure… Throughout the blood he couldn't really see.

He slowly walked up the tiled steps and to the front door of the house where dead flowers had wilted on the mat out the front. He felt his whole body begin to tremble at the thought of what lay ahead.

Because he was home earlier than usual, would that mean he'd be beaten by his father? Or would he be too drunk to realise that he even had a son? Ryder prayed quickly to whatever God was out there watching him (he did that a lot these days) and opened the two doors in front of him. They didn't even lock them. Ryder wondered why there was even a door there, they never used it.

He closed the door behind him and took a cautious look around. Deadly silent, no movement. The only thing he could hear was his heart pounding in his chest. It was dark inside but he couldn't turn on a light. It'd startle them.

He peered into the lounge room and saw his Dad and his Mom on opposite sides of the couch, both drinking beer (his Dad doing it sloppily, missing his mouth every time). His Mom looked a little bit more sober but she still looked drunk. Ryder sucked in a sharp breath.

This was the time of the day that scared him the most. This was the whole reason why he'd begun to go to the cliff after school, to escape.

He decided in less than a second that it was probably a good idea to run back outside and just wander the streets (not the cliff, couldn't stand seeing Marley) for a while. But before he could take the step back to the door, a voice called him.

"Ryder, what the fuck are you doing home?" It didn't really sound like English but Ryder had grown up with that voice being used on him. It was so… normal nowadays. He hated that this had happened but you can't choose your life, right?

He didn't reply to his Dad. He just froze, his body starting to sting from the fear. He wanted to break down and cry. He needed to scream and just run… but he couldn't in fear of being hurt. Suddenly he wanted Marley to just be there, even if she was being a nosy little bitch. He needed her. Ryder never thought he'd say something like that in his life but he _needed _her.

"Ryder, since when did you suddenly become our son?" His Dad gave this weird, drunk laugh that sounded similar to a walrus before his Mom joined in on the laughter. _It wasn't even that funny._

_"_Ryder, you little dickhead. Why are you home from school so early?" His Mom dragged out her words, a devious smile in her voice. Ryder could just see her yelling things at him while his head got repeatedly smashed against the stairwell. He really didn't like the vision.

"You answer your mother, you little prick," His Dad yelled, his voice echoing around the silent house. Ryder flinched at the sound of his voice. He was so frightened… he shouldn't have come home at all. He should have faced Marley. It would have been so much easier than this.

"I didn't have anything to do." He whispered, his voice sounding weaker than ever before. He had no clue what to say or do. It all just sucked so badly.

"So you just came home?" His Mom's voice was loud and sharp and it hurt his ears… or maybe that was the upcoming headache from the intense fear running through his veins. Ryder nodded at the floor, slumping over to hide his face. He pulled on his orange jumper sleeves to try and shield his anxiety from his Mother and Father.

"What a wimp." His Dad muttered under his breath, throwing the half full drink bottle to the floor. It made a loud smashing sound and Ryder saw bits of the glass flying through the air. There were so many smashed bottles now, he had finally realised. "You're just a fucking weakling who is such a mother fucking idiot."

His Dad wobbled to his feet and said something completely in some sort of other language before he began to walk over the broken beer bottles over to Ryder. Ryder cowered back a step before freezing completely. Running wouldn't get him out of this situation. He just had to face the pain – it's what he did every day of his life. He faced every inch of pain head on and took it all, wanting to die more and more every second of the day.

It wasn't until now he realised how much he needed Marley in his life. She was pretty much his saviour and she was the only person in the world who cared. He needed to apologise to her, to gain trust her again because he needed her. She was there for him, and that whole nosy incident was just her way of showing she _cared. _

Ryder wanted to burst out into tears as the thoughts ran through his head like bullets. They were loud anf fast and it made his head hurt. He'd made such a bad mistake!

The constant sound of his own thoughts in his head stopped the second he felt a hard punch hit the side of his face. _Not the first time this has happened today, _Ryder thought, bring his hand up to hold the side of his face. It stung and began to throb.

Begging was useless. He couldn't beg not to be hit, it wasn't going to work. He couldn't beg for anything in his life any more.

Because life was hard. He'd know that for years – since he was really young – but he couldn't give up on it, not just yet. Marley was there for him, he saw that now. He was hoping she would be at the cliff tomorrow so he could tell her everything inside of him.

Ryder really wasn't sure what had gone on in the next couple of minutes, too focused on thoughts of Marley. He had felt the punches and kicks from his Father, his Mom egging him on the whole time, but they never really registered in his mind. _I need to speak to Marley. I need to tell her she's my lifeline. _

{x}

"Feeling any better, darling?" Marley's Mom peered through the door and scanned across the room for her daughter, finding her standing by the window with a blanket wrapped tightly around her shoulders.

"Not really, still feel sick." Marley muttered, staring up into the dim sky. The sun was going down now. Marley rubbed her eye and bowed her head, thinking of Ryder and how stupid she was for hurting him. She wondered where he was now – was he at the cliff, or at home? Or someplace else? Was he watching the sun with her? It was kind of their thing and she hated to think about that being broken after four days.

"Darling, I'm sorry you feel sick," Miss Rose said, placing a mug down on the table next to Marley's bed. Marley turned her head around and looked over at her kitten mug filled to the top with hot chocolate. "I hope you get better."

"It's not your fault I'm sick, Mom." Marley muttered, shaking her head and turning away from the window. She sat down on her bed and pushed the blanket around her shoulders to the end of her bed. "Thank you, though, Mom. For being so caring to me today."

"It's fine darling." Her Mom leaned down and pressed a light kiss to her forehead. Marley smiled and wrapped her arms around her body. "I hope you feel better for school on Monday." Her Mom smiled one last time at her before walking out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

Marley let a big sigh and squeezed her eyes shut. "I hope everything's better on Monday." She bowed her head to look at her bed cover – if she cried, this would have been the tenth time today. She missed Ryder and it made her heart hurt.

If she hadn't of stuffed up, right now she could have been staring right at him while they watched the sun together, just talking.

Marley reached over to the mug on the bedside table and picked it up, holding it in between her hands. It was hot but not scolding hot – just the way she liked it. Her Mom always knew how to make her feel just a little bit better.

She got up again and went to the large window next to the bed, staring up at the sky. She couldn't see the sun from here but she could see the colours of the sky fading into each other. Red, pink, orange, yellow… they were all so beautiful.

She remembered when she first saw Ryder that one day watching the sun set. It was truly a beautiful scene, especially to watch with someone else.

Marley took a sip of her hot chocolate and felt it run down her throat. It was sweet; almost too sweet for Marley's liking today. She placed the mug on the small table on the other side of her bed, not feeling like it anymore. Maybe later, perhaps never.

She leaned her hands on the windowsill and gazed up into the clouds. Things were bound to get better for her and Ryder, right? To quote Britt Nicole, "The night can only last for so long… because the sun is rising."

It seemed so true to Marley – she watched the sun go down every night since she met Ryder and every time the sun would come back up. The night only lasted for so long and that meant the dark part would eventually fade away.

Marley smiled a real smile for the first time that day. They had a chance at making things better. She just needed to talk to Ryder first and pray that he would forgive her. Eventually it had to happen, right?

{x}

Everything hurt. His head was pounding, so was his heart. Every bone in his body was throbbing from the pain. It was a struggle to even climb the stairs to get to his room on the second floor.

He practically did it on his hands and knees, it being too much to handle to stand up straight and run up the stairs. Once he reached the top of the carpeted staircase, he fell onto his stomach and laid there for a moment, taking deep breaths to calm himself. It all hurt, so bad.

Ryder managed to sit up after a couple more minutes and took more breaths in, counting to three before exhaling. It hurt to breathe as well. He wondered what he had done to deserve this.

Five more minutes had passed by the time Ryder had enough energy to drag himself to his room down the hall. It was the door on the right, directly across from the bathroom he barely ever used.

The door to his room was closed. Ryder crawled forward, an aching feeling in his back flaring up as he reached for the doorknob. He winced as he opened it, collapsing to the floor again. The pain was too much.

The door had fallen open by now and was pressed up against the wall, revealing Ryder's room. It was tidier than the rest of the house – his bed was made, there was no rubbish on the floors and his clothes were packed up and folded as neatly as he could. Ryder was so thankful that his parents didn't destroy his room as a punishment. Not like being hit was any better.

Ryder dragged himself into his room and sat up against the door, closing it behind him. It locked automatically and Ryder breathed a sigh of relief, not having the energy to reach up and hit the lock himself.

He could just feel all of the bruises from all of today's abuse spearing on his skin. He could feel the stinging and the throbbing of where he'd been hit. He could feel the blood pumping around his eye. Ryder licked the cut on the inside of his mouth from where he'd gotten punched at school today and winced at the taste of blood on his tongue. Was it still really bleeding?

Ryder let out a loud sigh and leaned his head against the door. He'd given up – right now would be a good time to die. It didn't matter about Marley anymore, who cared whether or not they apologised to each other. He was better off dead, it was obvious.

Dying seemed like such a great thing to Ryder. If he had of jumped off of that cliff the first day he met Marley, things would probably be better. It was just be peaceful darkness, not abuse or yelling people. No feelings or pain or tears. Just… _death._

Letting out a sigh, he rubbed his face lightly with his hands, being careful to stay away from his pounding eye. He was ready – he was going to do this. He was going to die. Ryder was sure – he knew that he couldn't take this back, but he wouldn't want to. He wanted to die and had for a while. Now was the time. Nobody would care if he was dead, right? Nobody would want to bury him because he was useless. No one would want to hold a funeral because he was disgusting and stupid. No one would miss him, it was that simple.

Ryder got to his feet using the door to help him and cursed repeatedly under his breath. _All of the pain would be over soon_, he told himself. Once he was on his feet, he held onto the wall to get to the dresser that spread across the whole room with his all of his belongings stacked neatly into piles. Right next to the dresser was his bed with the old Star Wars covers and the Darth Vader poster hanging just above his bed. Ryder sighed, remembering those days when everything was just so carefree.

Once Ryder had reached the dresser, he leaned against it and took a few deep breaths. He couldn't breathe – his throat felt tight, like someone was digging a knife into his windpipe or something. He felt the need to throw up and everything was spinning.

He threw open the first drawer to the left side of the room and found (underneath a pile of hios underwear) a sharp kitchen knife, glinting in the light from the window. It'd be messy, but it would kill him.

Ryder slammed the door shut again and looked up at the ceiling, trying to get some sort of connection to heaven or wherever the afterlife was. "Please let me in." He whimpered, feeling tears come to his eyes. It hurt to cry, too.

He looked back down at the shiny metal knife again and sighed. He let his tears fall onto the knife, making his reflection smudgy. He could also see through the tears on the knife the sky through the window. He took a glance up and looked.

The sky was pink and orange, and it reminded him of the night before last with Marley and how they happily watched the sunset together.

Suddenly the decision felt selfish. Marley deserved to know at least. Even if she was nosy, Marley still liked him and cared for him. The pain was so much, but he couldn't die just yet. Not until he told Marley that he wanted to die because she deserved to know.

Ryder was so confused. He wasn't really sure what to do anymore. The knife in his hand began to feel hot, so Ryder dropped it suddenly. It bounced along the ground and hit the wall, leaving a small little dent in the white wall.

His head hurt. He needed to take a breath and just… sit. His head spun as well as hurting, the pain kind of pounding. He saw a little white light flashing on his eye which was slowly turning red every time he took a breath. He had seen the dot before – it normally came before he got the normal deadly migraine. That was from being hit over the head too much.

Ryder rubbed his head and cleared his hair from his eyes. Looking up, he let a smile come across his face. Was Marley watching the sun? It kind of was their thing, as much as he hated her. But really he didn't hate her, he just hated her nosiness. It was one flaw on the perfect diamond that was Marley Rose.

He bowed his head and looked down at his hands on the dresser. They were bruised and bloody but shaking heavily. He needed to talk to Marley; he would go to the cliff tomorrow morning and wait there all day for her. That's what he would do… and then maybe they could forgive each other and live on as friends.

{x}

**I hope Ryder's feelings in his chapter weren't too confusing - they felt very confusing when I was writing it and it doesn't feel like they pieced together properly. I also have never been punched or anything so I don't know what pain feels like, so sorry for the inaccuracy in that section. ****It has been a little while since I've updated, I'm very sorry. Ryley week got in the way when I finally had inspiration. I have the next two days off of school, though because I am getting my braces off! Yay! **

**Thank you all so much for reviewing, favouriting and following - those have totally made my days and made me smile so much! Thank you guys, you guys have made my whole month! **

**Jennoist-OTP ~ Ah yes, I'm reading 'We Go Together' at the moment. I'm like, five chapters in (that's not very far in) but I am determined to finish soon! I'm sorry I'm making Ryder sad and I'm sorry for making Marley nosy. They will sort things out next chapter, I promise! Thank you for reviewing and being so damn lovely! Also I heard you got tweeted by Blake Jenner or something? When? Where? How? What? x**

**TeaAndGlee ~ I'm sorry your little Ryder is sad! I'm so sorry (it's hard on me, too, don't worry haha). Bittersweet, yes, that was the word I was looking for! Thank youu. Also thank you for reviewing and oh my God, your profile picture is so damn cute! Right in the feels. I promise you that Ryder will be happy soon. xx**

**Guest ~ Ah, thank you! xx**

**xxMyCupxx ~ Thank you, thank you oh my God. I can relate to Marley, too with the whole situation. I'm so glad that my writing can do that, make you feel into it and stuff. It totally brings a smile to my face. Thank you so damn much oh my God. Thanks for reviewing and everything, I love you. Also I love your username so much! It's freaking adorable and aw! Thanks again x**

**xxDontCarexx ~ You've read it 10 times? Oh my God! I'm so sorry for making you wait, but here is the next chapter! It's a bit slow but hopefully you'll like it. Thank you again! You're so sweet and I love you so much :)**

**One last time: Thank you everybody, I love you all so much! **

**-Camryn x**


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